Fired basketball coach Ben Howland bids adieu to UCLA

To understand why UCLA fired its most successful men's basketball coach since John Wooden, it is helpful to split Ben Howland's tenure into halves.

In his first five years, Howland took the Bruins to three consecutive Final Fours - an achievement only two other coaches in the country have matched since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64.

Over the next five, he missed the field twice entirely and won just two games in the NCAAs. Florida Gulf Coast University, which held its first classes in 1997, already has matched that total this season.

So how does Howland, who leaves with a 233-107 record in Westwood, think fans will remember him?

"I don't know that," he said. "I don't know. We'll find out. I think it's a little fresh right now to have a feel for that.

"I would hope they have good feelings and thoughts about me."

Howland spoke to a full collection of local media on Monday, a rarity for a fired coach. He said he chose to do so because he wanted to thank everyone he's ever worked with, and that he did. His opening comments named everyone from athletic director Dan Guerrero, to players former and current, to his assistants, to the physical trainer, his secretary and his wife, Kim.

"It is not easy being the family of a coach, or the wife of a coach. God has blessed me so much," Howland said. His voice did not remain steady.

But the 25-minute session also was his last chance to mold his legacy at UCLA. Howland spoke of his own accomplishments, recalling UCLA's Sweet 16 victory over Gonzaga in 2006, one that saw the Bruins come back from 17 points down. He is proud of this season too, one which he said included "unbelievable wins starting three freshmen."

Howland has long said this was his dream job, having grown up in nearby Santa Barbara. He did so again Monday, reiterating his personal relationship with Wooden, whom he knew as "Coach." He gestured out toward the Pauley Pavilion floor, where he spoke at Wooden's memorial service almost three years ago.

Some have argued the coaching legend's shadow is what contributed to Howland's dismissal, that the school's expectations were too high. One reporter asked about dealing with the "ghost of John Wooden," but he didn't blame that either.

"It's a place that has high expectations and that's understandable," Howland said.

There is a tendency to eulogize men who leave, to wash away the blemishes of their memory. Howland did not ask for this; when he entered the room to applause Monday he said, "That was unexpected."

As Howland himself said at the NCAA Tournament last weekend: "Real adversity is someone who's trying to feed their kids and struggling to make it. Real adversity is having your mortgage under water.

"And there's so many things that are so much tougher than what we deal with in our world of athletics."

Remember that should Howland choose to do absolutely nothing for the next five years, he still could be paid as much as $3.5 million.

Consider also his latter years did not meet even middling expectations, let alone those UCLA still wishes to set.

He presided over a program in which players left in droves, including center Josh Smith and guard Tyler Lamb within a four-day span in November. Both were former starters and landed at Georgetown and Long Beach State, respectively. His local recruiting had dipped; the most recent class - top-ranked as it was - came entirely from out of state and traveled an average distance of more than 1,800 miles.

Howland won a Pac-12 title, but his path with the Bruins was not on a upward trajectory.

Howland believes he has much to offer as a basketball coach. Another place, another time.